Katrin Muller de Guia, a German artist and author integral to Baguio's art scene, died at 75 on October 12. She is remembered for her book 'Kapwa: The Self in the Other,' exploring Filipino worldviews. Married to Kidlat Tahimik, she was mother to three artists.
Katrin Muller met Kidlat Tahimik, then Eric de Guia, in early 1970s Germany when she spotted a Sarao jeepney. She left her boyfriend, married him, and they had three sons: Kidlat, Kawayan, and Kabunyan. Returning to Baguio after the 1985 snap elections, they helped form the Baguio Arts Group, revitalizing the city's and nation's creative scene.
Katrin appeared in Kidlat's films like Turumba, Bakit Nasa Gitna ang Yellow, and Balikbayan #1. She created performance art with Shant Verdun, stained glass, and Daliesque dolls from junk. Her key contribution was the book Kapwa: The Self in Other, published 20 years ago by Anvil Publishing. A National Book Awards finalist, it explores kapwa as shared identity and interconnectedness, drawing from Dr. Virgilio Enriquez, father of Sikolohiyang Pilipino.
As Enriquez's student at the University of the Philippines, Katrin applied kapwa to artists like Santi Bose, Roberto Villanueva, and Kidlat. Reprinted twice, the book now fetches ten times its original price due to demand from Fil-Am students. In 2024, they prepared a third edition with a new introduction for the Frankfurt Book Fair.
Afflicted with long COVID, she returned home that year. While working on a sequel about Kapwa and the World—extending the concept to nature—she died on the midnight of October 12 in her Tuding home in Baguio, surrounded by sons Kawayan and Kabunyan, and dog Max. She was cremated soon after, with a wake on October 24-25 at Ili Likha. 'Ang Pinoy jeepney journey ni Katrin... ay kompleto na,' the announcement read.